


the moldy cup is not a metaphor

by MildlyRebelliousMint



Category: DCU (Comics), Green Lantern (Comics)
Genre: Canon Typical Ambiguous Timeline, Character Study, Explicit Language, Fluff, Found Family, Friendship, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-09
Updated: 2021-02-09
Packaged: 2021-03-14 21:54:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,382
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29303049
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MildlyRebelliousMint/pseuds/MildlyRebelliousMint
Summary: A typical roommate argument leads to Kyle accidentally calling Hal dad. Which leads to Hal having a crisis.
Relationships: Barry Allen & Hal Jordan, Hal Jordan & Kyle Rayner
Comments: 17
Kudos: 41





	the moldy cup is not a metaphor

**Author's Note:**

  * For [fourchette](https://archiveofourown.org/users/fourchette/gifts).



> Happy very late birthday to fourchette!! I'm sorry again this is so late. I'm a mess.
> 
> Thanks to RedWritingHood for the grammar check! Complaints to my beta, luckynumberdusk, who, to this very moment, will not let go the grammar of a sentence that does not even appear in the final fic. It doesn't matter if the emo men fuck the devils or if the devils fuck the emo men, okay??? I don't ever want your help again.  
> Thanks, though.
> 
> Anyway, Kyle and Hal are roommates in this because fourchette deserves to have that.

Kyle, Hal reminds himself, is the best of the Corps. He picked up the torch and carried it past the Corps’ own destruction. He’d wielded the entire emotional spectrum and used it to save the universe. He is a more honest and kind person than Hal could ever hope to be.

He’d asked him four times, though. More than that, if you counted the general reminders and the times he’d neglected to do it before.

You’d think a man who had held the power of life could manage to rinse out a mug before it grew mold.

 _And yet._

He can hear muffled music from Kyle’s room before he knocks. By the distorted, pained voice of the singer, you’d think Kyle was waist deep in the tortured artist bit. Honestly, Hal still doesn’t really get how Kyle’s musical taste gels with his open personality.

“One shecond!” comes Kyle’s muffled response.

Which is what he’d kept saying about the cups. Well, he hadn’t had anything in his mouth at the time, so he’d pronounced it better.

Hal opens the door and is hit with the stench of paint. The singer rasps something about fucking the devil. Kyle turns from his canvas, a paintbrush in his mouth and one in his hand and wearing more of the paint on himself than seems reasonable, “Hm?”

“Are you… painting a robot?”

“Ish-” he grabs the brush from his mouth, “It’s a mech.”

“Uh, right.” Whatever that means. Hal holds up the cup. “You going to clean this?”

“Oh, yeah, sure,” Kyle glances back at his canvas. “Just, uh, let me finish this.”

“Look, kid, if we’re sharing a space, you’re going to have to clean up after yourself at the very least.”

Kyle frowns. “I’ll do it. I’m just kind of in the zone right now.”

“You say that a lot,” Hal points out, “I end up cleaning them half the time.”

“You don’t have to,” Kyle says, folding his arms - and, okay, Hal sees how he ends up with paint all over himself. “I said I’ll do it. I don’t see what the big deal is.”

“I get it happens sometimes, but come on. You’re constantly leaving cups around the place.”

“Okay, _sorry_ ,” Kyle grumbles, finally putting down the paint brush and reaching for the cup, “I’ll do it now, dad.”

Kyle's hand freezes midair. "I mean, uh." His cheeks flush and he pulls back his hand. "Not like. I didn't mean it like _that._ You're just acting like you're- I mean you're not my dad or anything, obviously. That wouldn't make sense. At all. I just mean you're being very naggy. Not that..."

Hal stares as Kyle babbles and flails his arms about, not really processing it.

He tries to piece together what this reaction means and his brain stalls like a worn out engine.

"Right, sure," Hal interrupts whatever Kyle is saying at that moment. "Just like… do the thing. I'm gonna…. Yeah."

"Uh, yeah, okay, but-"

Hal waves off the words. "Just… just shut up a minute, Kyle."

Kyle rubs his neck, looking at the ceiling. "Yeah, I mean, sure. Right. But you still-"

"Kyle."

He goes silent.

"I'm just- I'll be back in a bit." 

As he turns to leave, Kyle says, "Okay, but I need-"

Hal closes the door behind him before he can finish.

* * *

He finds himself at Barry’s house, because he always does when he’s… Well, he finds himself at Barry’s a lot.

Barry barely glances up from doing the dishes when Hal crawls in through the window.

“I have a door,” Barry says, “And, you know, _neighbors_.”

“Yeah,” Hal says, drawing out the word, “I'm pretty sure I dropped the key you gave me somewhere around Thanagar.”

Barry opens his mouth, then closes it. He takes a breath. “Just knock, Hal.”

"Alright, alright, spoilsport."

"How do you expect me to explain Green Lantern casually popping in?" Barry asks lightly, drying his hands.

Hal grins. "You're quick on your feet."

Barry huffs and shakes his head. "Yeah, that one's never gonna get old."

The room blurs into the blue color of Barry’s shirt and Hal blinks against the Barry-made wind. Then the dishes are done and there's coffee brewing.

“So,” Hal stalls, taking a seat at the counter, not really sure why he came here, “How’s the whole, uh, forensics gig treating you?” 

“I enjoy it,” Barry says, voice tinged with amusement. “Uh, what's with the moldy cup?"

Hal looks down at where he'd set the cup on Barry's counter. Oh. "Just, uh, thought I'd clean it in your sink?"

Barry raises an eyebrow. "Knock yourself out, I guess. I'm not doing it for you, though."

"Yeah, no, I got it," Hal says, taking the cup with him to the sink. "What kind of dingus makes other people wash his cups?"

Barry hums noncommittally. Hal finds an impressively clean scrub brush beside the sink. They always get gunked up so fast. Maybe it’s new?

“So, you got in a fight with your roommate? Kyle?"

Hal barely stops himself from turning around. How the hell? “What are you talking about?”

“Well, you usually come over if you need Flash’s help or if you need a place to crash,” he explains, “and since you’re not dragging me out of here right now…”

"We didn’t get into a fight." Well, they had, but that wasn't... It was just that…

Had Kyle really called him dad? 

He was being sarcastic.

Ha, maybe if he hadn't backpedalled so hard. That kid's mouth is his worst enemy.

He sighs, dropping the cup into the sink. Taking a deep breath, he covers his face with his hands. “I can’t do this.”

“It’s that bad?”

“No, it’s-” He laughs. “I mean, yes. He’s a _terrible_ roommate.” He turns to look at Barry; leans against the sink. “It’s just… he’s so… Kyle.”

Barry smiles a bit lopsided, all sympathy and infinite patience. “Sorry, but I don’t really know him well.”

Hal huffs. “He’s a good person, okay?”

“And that’s a problem?”

Hal frowns, trying to piece together what he means himself. “Not that, exactly… He’s just so… fresh-faced, I guess.”

“He’s… young,” Barry allows, “But he did take on a lot when you weren’t here from what I understand.”

 _‘Weren’t here.’_ Barry could deduct that phrasing off his taxes.

“No, you’re right, the kid did great.” He really had. Way too much had been piled on his shoulders, but he’d managed to come out with his spunk intact. “He’s just so wide-eyed, you know? And I don’t…”

The problem is he sees good in people. He doesn't understand the kind of person Hal is. And Hal doesn't know any way to show Kyle he's wrong before Hal ends up doing what he always does. Which is…

Bailing.

God, Hal is such a fuck up.

Better sooner than later, though, right?

"Hal?" Barry has made his way over to put a hand on Hal's arm. "Are you going to tell me what's going on?"

"You know Kyle gave me his ring?" he says, which is sort of beside the point but it's gnawed at the back of his mind.

"What? Like before you came over?" 

"No. Jeez, no. He's not trying to quit or anything." Phrasing, Jordan. "It was when I was Parallax-"

"When Parallax was using your-" Barry cuts off Hal, only to cut himself off, "Wait, he gave the ring to _Parallax_?" 

Hal nods. "I told him-"

"Parallax told him."

He hadn't not been Parallax. Their thoughts had blended together more than Hal ever wanted to examine. But, well, Barry can believe what he needs to believe. "Right, sure, Parallax told Kyle he needed the ring back so he could set things right."

Barry is frowning, eyebrows furrowed. 

"So he just…. He gave it to him. And then I- Parallax tried to kill him."

"He got it back, though."

Hal nods. "Yeah, he got it back. But you'd think after… After everything, he'd be a bit more cautious."

"He knows it wasn't your fault," Barry says, gentle but firm.

"That's not the point."

It's kind of the point. It _is_ his fault.

"He has no guard," Hal says, "I'm thinking maybe he should trust a little less."

"I trust you with my life, Hal," Barry says, seriously, "And I'm not a kid."

"It's not the same."

"How so? We're on the field together, too. You watch my back and you've never-"

"He called me dad."

Barry tries to turn his laugh into a cough and fails. "Excuse me?"

"Yeah, yeah. I know."

"No! No, it's cute."

Hal shoots a glare. "Take this seriously."

"I am!" Barry insists. "I just don't think it's as Earth shattering as you're making it out to be. I can't believe you flew to Ohio for this."

"Come on! I am _not_ a good father figure." _Of course._ Of course Barry would be like this.

"I don't know." Barry isn't even trying not to smile now. "You've always been really good with Wally."

"As, like, a cool uncle!"

"Cool uncles do not nag about coats."

"I may have _reminded_ him once or twice."

"Mm-hm." God. Who knew Barry could be so smug?

"The point is!" Hal crosses his arms. "I need to get out of this."

"Get out of Kyle liking you?"

"No, like… like, _you know._ "

Barry leans his back to the counter. "Look, if he already sees you as a father figure, it's going to be that way no matter what you do."

"I could… I should…"

There's nothing.

At this point, he's either a cool dad or a deadbeat asshole dad. 

"Shit." He scrubs a hand over his face. "Fuck me."

Barry leans sideways to check that the coffee pot is done brewing. "You don't want to at least do coffee first?"

"Ha, see?" Hal says, maybe a little spitefully. "I've already corrupted one person."

Barry rolls his eyes. "Have a drink and then you can go hug your new adult son."

* * *

Hal can think better now, with the wind blowing through his hair. He should probably apologize. God, he is not great at that. A peace offering, then.

Hal stops off somewhere around Nowhere, Pennsylvania at an outpost gas station. The graying man behind the counter looks startled to see him in full costume, but just shakes his head a bit without saying anything. 

Once when they were off planet and reminiscing about the food on their home planets with some other Lanterns, Kyle declared he'd eat sour candy until his face was nothing but a canker sore when he returned to Earth. It had led into a rowdy discussion about different painful foods everyone liked and which you had to be toughest to eat. He's not sure if it's really one of Kyle's favorites or if he'd just had a craving, but the memory makes Hal smile, so he buys some Sour Patch candy anyway.

The cashier gives him a funny look, but rings it up with a muttered, "Thanks for stopping by."

* * *

The dishwasher is running when Hal sets the stupid cup back on the counter. He vaguely wonders if Kyle actually rinsed off the dishes this time.

The hallway to Kyle's room is silent, the discordant wailing of Kyle's music gone.

Hal knocks on Kyle's door and he answers this time.

"Hey! Uh, I started the dishwasher, but you kind of took the one cup with you?"

"Yeah, uh, it's fine," Hal says, scratching his face. "I cleaned it at Barry's place anyway."

"Barry…?"

"You know, the Flash?" He pauses. "Well, the first one."

"Uh, in Central City?"

"Yeah."

"Ohio."

Hal shrugs. "I needed a good fly." He offers the candy. "Grabbed this on the way back."

"Oh, thanks." Kyle takes it and turns it over quizzically. "Oh! Cause- Ha. I guess I can mess up my face now."

Hal nods; shifts his weight awkwardly. At least it seems like they both want peace. He can probably just… "So, yeah, that's all." He starts to back away 

"Hey, wait, uh, I'm sorry about earlier."

Well, Kyle is still Kyle. Maybe Hal is the naive one after all. 

Hal shrugs. "It's just cups. We're fine."

"No, I mean, about what I said," Kyle says because he can't, for once in his life, just read between the lines. "I mean, I'm sorry about the whole cup thing, too. I'll, uh, try to stay on top of it. But I just, uh." Kyle rubs his neck. "I didn't mean anything by what I said. Just kind of tripped over my tongue, you know?"

Tripped, rolled down a rocky hill. Same difference.

"Look, uh, however you meant it, it's fine."

Kyle tilts his head, like maybe he can figure out what Hal is thinking from a certain angle. "Are you sure? You did kind of-" Kyle makes a vague gesture. "Jet off to Ohio."

Oof. That one is not easy to get out of. He really shouldn't have brought up Barry. "Yeah, no, I just needed to think."

Kyle waits for him to continue.

Hal sighs. "You remember how I tried to kill you?"

Kyle manages to look more confused than Barry had. "You mean the Parallax thing?"

"Yeah." Jesus, hopefully there hadn't been another time he'd forgotten about.

Kyle's face is blank.

Hal waits.

It doesn't seem to sink in quite right. "And so you left the apartment?"

Why is Hal the one explaining himself here? "I… tried to kill you, Kyle."

"I guess, kind of? Parallax was in your brain or like controlling your body or whatever, though. We're cool there."

Hal frowns.

"So… no problem?"

It's pointless.

He might as well try using one of Carol's planes as a submarine.

No, he'd definitely rather be trying that right now instead of this. Even though Carol would bury him.

"I guess not," Hal gives in. He pats Kyle's shoulder. "You're a good kid, even if you're bad at the dishes."

"Thanks?"

Hal takes a breath. Maybe Barry had a point. He spreads his arms out a bit, and Kyle _finally_ catches one of his cues. Scrawny ass kid. He definitely isn't doing the routines Hal showed him. It's kind of nice, though.

"'m glad we're cool," Kyle mutters into his shoulder.

"Yeah," Hal says, "Me, too, kiddo."


End file.
